Bone marrow is a tissue which resembles blood and is found in the center of flat-type bones. Several types of stem cells, including all hematopoietic stem cells, reside in bone marrow. Stem cells are precursors to functional, mature cells, such as red and white blood cells and platelets. Stem cells, in particular, are important because they are responsible for sustaining and replenishing all mature cells in a specific type of organ throughout life. There are certain blood-related disorders (both cancerous and non-cancerous) where a bone marrow transplant is needed. These diseases cause the body's stem cells to not produce the right amount of blood cells or cause them to be defective. Such diseases include leukemia, lymphoma, and other cancers. Non-cancerous diseases like sickle cell anemia and thalassemia also require bone marrow transplants.
The extraction of bone marrow for long-term storage in deep freeze banks is becoming more and more common. These stored reserves may be used at times of serious injury to replenish one's own blood, for example. The traditional way of harvesting bone marrow is done by using a needle that requires several incisions into the tissue and bore sites through the iliac crest bone (i.e., pelvic bone). Approximately 500-1200 ml of bone marrow needs to be harvested. On average, this means about 5-6 holes are bore into the bone during each harvest, drawing out 100-200 ml of bone marrow from each site. Each site is limited to this amount of bone marrow as a result of the syringe used for such procedures, which, due to its size, creates only a small amount of negative pressure. Additionally, the needles used only permit bone marrow aspiration in the immediate vicinity of the needle tip. Consequently, such drawbacks increase the cost, amount of patient trauma, and degree procedural complexity associated with conventional methods for harvesting bone marrow.